7 Facts About Gay Conversion Camps and Homosexuality Cures

The 7 facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures will lay bare what a farce it all is. Ever since the world’s most popular book, The Bible, came out, homosexuality has been deemed a horrendous sin and a one-way ticket to hell. According to the passage Leviticus 18:22, man must not lay with man. For over two millennia, this has led to the ostracization of such people and more often than not, their deaths. And while the human race has advanced by leaps and bounds in this time period, it looks like our intellect has not.

I will say this once, and then probably keep on repeating it because apparently it needs reinforcing, but being gay is not a choice. It is not a conscious decision and a person does not simply decide that he wants to do something which is still regarded as distasteful throughout the world, could lead to his own family in disowning him, and in some countries, could lead to his death as I mentioned before. A person is born gay, and it is about time we accept it.

Now I’m not surprised that many people in developing countries whose law is still dictated by a religion that is 1,400 years old view homosexuality as abhorrent and in fact, punish the act by death. I am not saying it is excusable, just that I, being from such a country myself, see why people react like that. This creates trouble for the gay population in such countries, which can surprisingly be found in the 10 Countries with the Biggest Gay Populations in the World. But to be from the United States, the nation which proclaims itself to be the champion of freedom, and yet, simultaneously establish practices such as gay conversion therapy, where the ‘gayness’ is tortured out of the person. Can anyone else see the hypocrisy here? And do you know the success rate of such therapy? The answer is zero percent. Even if a person claims to be cured, he or she will simply have done so to avoid the repercussions.

While some states in the United States, such as California, Vermont, and Oregon have introduced legislation to make illegal the offer of such therapies to minors, a lot more still needs to be done. The reason why such therapy was outlawed by these states is because medical professionals have through the decades stated it to be not just ineffective but dangerous as well. However, while I believe that gay conversion therapy should be illegal on a federal level, due to the discrimination the LGBT community has faced throughout the decades, it is unlikely to happen soon enough.

We compiled some facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures to prove how dangerous and horrible this practice is. Funnily enough, I did not intend for the facts to be actually persuasive in favor of my argument; I went in with an open mind. However, the result has convinced me more than ever that this practice needs to be abolished with severe penalties and jail terms for those engaging in it. So, let’s hear these facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures.

7. Shock therapy was the official cure for homosexuality

Before 1973, homosexuality was actually considered a mental disorder and homosexuals were often admitted to mental institutions where they would face shock therapy. What is shock therapy you ask? The “mentally disabled” would be shown images on a slide, with some being neutral, which showed women and others, being stimuli, which showed men. Note that this example is based on male patients and was available for women too. The stimuli slides would shock the patients via electrodes while the neutral slides would elicit no reaction, thus conditioning the person to change his preferences to the opposite gender. Worked like a charm, as evidenced by no homosexuals in the world.

6. Court cases are challenging gay conversion therapy

Next on our list of facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures implies that many people have finally realized that gay conversion therapy is more damaging than effective, and have taken such therapists to court over their handling of such therapies. One such lawsuit is taking place in the state of New Jersey, where the plaintiffs have claimed that they paid out a lot of money for such conversion therapy which failed completely, and in fact was so damaging that they had to take regular therapy to neutralize the damage done.

5. One famous study was actually in favor of gay therapy

I can already hear you saying that I must be a hypocrite if I’m still staunchly against such therapy considering there is a study which is in favor. And yes, the study was conducted by a person who was neither anti-homosexual or very religious and in fact was a popular psychiatrist with the name of Robert Spitzer. The study, which took place in 2003, saw Spitzer hold interviews with people who had been through gay conversion therapy and concluded that it was a viable way of “curing” homosexuality. Remember, the reason the study gained so much credence was due to Spitzer being one of the main voices for the removal of homosexuality from being classified as a mental illness in 1973. You can imagine the effect this study had on the gay population, which was dismayed, and conservative groups, who were elated. However, even in its heyday, the study attracted criticism since it only included interviews with people who had engaged in the therapy without including a control group. And guess who denounced the study nearly a decade later, in 2012?  That’s right, Spitzer himself admitted the study was flawed and actually apologized to the entire gay community for the damage his study may have caused. Wondering what’s next on our list of facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures? Let’s see.

4. Gays are often flamboyant for a reason

Often, gays dress flamboyantly not just because they look utterly fabulous, but to stand out, as stated by a man who was subject to such gay conversion therapy. The point of this act is to let the other homosexuals know that they are not alone and to ensure that no one else has to go through the torture, both physical and mental, that they have had to endure because of the way they are.

3. Gay conversion therapy feeds you lies to try and convert you

These facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures serve to remind you that childish practices are employed by mature (at least by age) people as well. A person who actually had to face this therapy stated that he was only a child when his parents sent him to such a camp where he was fed lies which included being told that gay people had been killed and convincing him that the government would search for him. Imagine being a prepubescent child who is told that the world is killing people like him and hunting him. It is no wonder that many people end up committing suicide rather than go through this.

2. You have to lie to get away

One of the only ways to get through such a camp is to pretend it worked. I mean, there is a limit to a person’s endurance and physical torture often tends to stretch that limit. Hence, in order to get in the good graces of the torturers, or the runners of the camp, the patient can pretend to have been straight or pretend to be cured, after which the exercises carried out for his conversion are stopped. However, a person may actually convince himself that he is straight for a while, which can lead to confusion and self-doubt, which in turn can result in some very harmful relationships later on. It is important to note that such therapy does not actually convert a person, but may have a temporary effect on them because everybody would do anything to stop the torture. I hope you all realized how completely messed up this is. Finally, let’s se the number one on the list of facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures.

1. Gay conversion camps are mostly run by religious organizations

Were you wondering how a kid could be tortured and lied to, not to mention held against his will, and the United States government did not do a single thing about it? This did not take place in some third world country, where religion governs the law and no action is taken against instigators of crime, this happened in the most powerful country in the world. However, the United States allows such acts to be committed due to its belief in religious freedom, which, unfortunately, has taken to mean religious organizations can do anything without repercussions because of freedom everybody has! Also, isn’t it ironic that while religious movements extol the virtues of prayer, they engage in good old fashioned tortured to get their point across? It is amazing what blind faith can lead to. I sincerely hope that these facts about gay conversion camps and homosexuality cures have raised awareness regarding the atrocities being committed in their name and the systematic torture of homosexuals being carried out.